Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Invisible Science

Measuring an oil molecule was the highlight of a second day of science workshops at Stoke's museums with our Home Education Group. Using scientific calculators and mathematical formulae, the children were shown how to calculate the size of an invisible molecule by measuring a visible drop and then watching what happened when that drop was placed into water. Led by an enthusiastic scientist, there was nothing patronising about this activity, and it was great to see the children (aged 6-13) engaging with the material at their own level. Later, they helped to isolate a molecule, and learned about measuring microwaves and radioactivity.

The afternoon of practical experimentation followed a morning of learning about health in the Potteries in the Victorian era, including exploring the health hazards in a mock-up city slum, hearing about the importance of the development of the toilet and sewers, and visiting a Victorian doctor's surgery.

These activities are offered FREE, but sadly few schools take up the opportunity, and the funding of such initiatives is soon to end. It struck me that Stoke schoolchildren particularly could learn so much about their local history here, but of course, schools follow a National Curriculum, with little opportunity to appreciate the local treasures on their doorstep. This is a pity, both for the children, and for the community around them which has so much to offer.

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Reluctant Radical

Home education - home based learning - is unusual in the U.K. I feel like a reluctant radical, yet it continues to be a liberating journey, despite the frustrations and misunderstanding. Learn more about our journey towards a more autonomous education here. My husband and I live in the West Midlands. We have home educated our 4 sons (2 are now at college, 2 continue to learn from home). I informally research education outside of school, and he works as a freelance teacher.

I offer workshops on Mentoring Self-Directed Learners, and am willing and able to speak on the subject of autonomous learning. If you would like more information, please contact me to discuss your requirements.

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupi...

Quotes to Inspire

"We shall never learn to feel and respect our real calling and destiny, unless we have learned to consider everything as moonshine, compared with the education of the heart." (Scott)

"There are two aspects of providing occasions for wonderful ideas. One is being prepared to accept children's ideas. The other is providing a setting which suggests wonderful ideas to children." (Eleanor Duckworth)

"A child's curiosity and desire to do things himself are the definition of his capacity to learn without sacrificing any part of his whole development. Guidance can only heighten certain abilities at the expense of others, but nothing can heighten the full spectrum of his capabilities beyond its in-built limits. The price a child pays for being guided into what other think best for him (or themselves) is the diminution of his wholeness." (Jean Liedloff)

"What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook." (Henry David Thoreau)

"If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all." (Jacob Hornberger)

"The primary goal is joyful living. All other goals are secondary. If meeting a goal means sacrificing joy, then find a better way to meet the goal." (Joyce Fetteroll)

“Train up a child in the way he should go — but be sure you go that way yourself.” (Charles Spurgeon)

"Everything big that occurred in the world occurred in someone's imagination." (Astrid Lindgren)

"The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." (Robert Maynard Hutchins)

"The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only, and that is to support the ultimate career." (C.S. Lewis)

"In all of life, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." (Gordon B. Hinckley)

"My hope and wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to what I call 'education of the heart.' Just as we take for granted the need to acquire proficiency in the basic academic subjects, I am hopeful that a time will come when we can take it for granted that children will learn, as part of the curriculum, the indispensability of inner values: love, compassion, justice and forgiveness." (The Dalai Lama)

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." (Albert Einstein)

"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today." (Gabriela Mistral)

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." (Charlotte Mason)

We want our children to feel that each fresh lesson gives them an 'open sesame' to a fairy palace full of treasures worth the seeking; that they are the inheritors of all the heaped-up gains of past ages, not slaves doomed to a treadmill of weary monotony." (Kathleen Warren, 1903)

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." (Plutarch)

"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think than what to think." (Bill Beattie)

"Tell me - I will forget. Show me - I may remember. Be with me - I will understand." (Tibetan Proverb)

"The world is not lacking in wonders but in a sense of wonder." (G.K. Chesterton)

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." (Wolfram Van Goethe)

"Wisdom begins with wonder." (Socrates)

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivation and the richer their experiences.” (Loris Malaguzzi)